Our new addition - any Dog experts out there?

We adopted a dog from a shelter in the area. His name is Riley (4 months old) and hes VERY intelligent - Sit, Come, Stay and Crate in less than three days. Proud papa thoughts aside, I had a question. All the shelter knew was that he was a surrender (not sure why) and they thought he looked like a Redbone Coonhound mix, however, a couple people that we have met mentioned he looks a lot like a Viszla. But who knows, he could be anything. His coat is mostly reddish/golden and he has a tail that contains black. I'm not really a dog expert so perhaps some of you might have some ideas or questions that will help us identify his roots. From what I have googled and read, he has traits of both...

Thanks for all the kind remarks...Chalk up another person, my wife's uncle - a dog enthusiast, who said that he looked like a Vizsla...Well he actually said that he looked a lot like that Hungarian pointer breed that he couldn't remember

Ahhhhhh... I love it when puppies sit like that. My Lab still does that... it just makes them look like slackers.

Do you know for a fact that your puppy is a mix or a purebreed? If a mix, like you said, he could just be a mix of both the coonhound and vizsla.

EDIT: I looked at your links, but one thing stood out for me... your site says that Vizsla's are prone to hip dysplasia (just like Labs). The way your puppy is sitting is, I've been told, a sign of hip dysplasia.

Ahhhhhh... I love it when puppies sit like that. My Lab still does that... it just makes them look like slackers.

Do you know for a fact that your puppy is a mix or a purebreed? If a mix, like you said, he could just be a mix of both the coonhound and vizsla.

EDIT: I looked at your links, but one thing stood out for me... your site says that Vizsla's are prone to hip dysplasia (just like Labs). The way your puppy is sitting is, I've been told, a sign of hip dysplasia.

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Being a shelter dog, not a lot is known which is why I appealed for help here. The shelters just guess at the breed and wait for a loving home to come along to adopt.

Riley usually doesn't sit like that. I had woke him up to take the picture, so he just pushed himself up from a lying position. Of course, now I am going to see how he sits on his own.

Just so you know, I was only told that the way our dog was sitting was a sign of hip dysplasia, was by someone who had bred and owned labs for a long time... so they weren't completely uninformed. Still, the best way to know for sure is to ask your vet... only they, with an X-ray and physical exam, not just how they're sitting can make the diagnosis of hip dysplasia. We had our lab checked (X-rays and all) as a puppy and our vet told us his hip joints were normal. So take that for what it's worth... sorry if you got alarmed by what I had related to you earlier, wasn't my intention. But since you said that you and others believe that your puppy may be at least part Vizsla, and Vizslas are prone to hip dysplasia... that could be something you and your family might consider discussing with your vet.

Does it have a ridge on its back, it looks a lot like a rhodesian ridgeback. Not sure what you guys call them across the pond. I have two of them, coolest dogs in the world
maybe that can solve the mystery a bit.

Cool dogs, I wanted one... but also prone to hip dysplasia according to dogbreedinfo. So you would still want to discuss that with your vet if this was the case.

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Nope, not that i know of. The two that i have at the moment are 13 and 14 years old(reaching the end of their lives ) and they have been quite sick lately, but mainly with other stuff, had a cancer scare the other month, they take quite the cocktail before they go to bed. My mom is the vets best friend. But the pair we had before them also lived that long, the one died of throat cancer, and the other of just pure old age, i think the new puppy we got tired her out a bit.

Does it have a ridge on its back, it looks a lot like a rhodesian ridgeback. Not sure what you guys call them across the pond. I have two of them, coolest dogs in the world
maybe that can solve the mystery a bit.

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Was thinking the same thing. And for the record, I would love a Ridgeback, stunning dogs.

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